We’re excited to welcome G.M. Berrow back to Charm City this July!
Official author of “Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell,” “Pinkie Pie and the Rockin’ Ponypalooza Party!,” “Daring Do Adventure Collection,” “Lyra and Bon Bon and the Mares from S.M.I.L.E.,“ and many others, Berrow is no longer just the official author of official “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” books. Season 5 also marked her first time writing for the show!
When she’s not bringing the ponies of Equestria to life on the pages of children’s books or on TV, you might be able to find Berrow working in production on shows such as "Law & Order: SVU", "The Good Wife”, or her all-time favorite, “Blue Peter.”
To register for this event, visit BronyCon’s registration page. Badges for BronyCon will cost more at the door, so don’t wait!
(BALTIMORE)—BronyCon is excited to announce writer G.M. Berrow will join us again this Aug. 7-9 at the Baltimore Convention Center!
Official author of “Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell,” “Pinkie Pie and the Rockin’ Ponypalooza Party!,” “Daring Do Adventure Collection,” and many others, Berrow is no longer just the official author of official “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” books. For the first time, you will see her writing on the show in season five this Spring!
When she’s not bringing the ponies of Equestria to life on the pages of children’s books or on TV, you might be able to find Berrow working in production on shows such as "Law & Order: SVU", "The Good Wife”, or her all-time favorite, “Blue Peter.”
Be sure to visit BronyCon’s guest page to learn more about Berrow’s works and other guests coming to Baltimore this Summer!
Art credit: Trish Forstner nanook123.deviantart.com
My Bronycon 2014 recap Day 1 (Autographs, G.M. Berrow, and Journey of the Spark)
I got back the other day from my very first bronycon. It was definitely whole lot of fun (fun fun fun fun fun fun. Seriously, I've never heard so many people chant the word "fun" in my life). So here's a recap of all the panels I was at. Note that there are some things I probably missed and even some of the things in this post I can't 100% recall. So without further ado...
Autographs:
First stop was autographs because I knew I wouldn't be able to get them in the later days. Luckily, the lines on Friday (at least when I got on) were nowhere near as long as they were in the following days. I was able to attend two autograph sessions and I was able to get Claire Corlett, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, and Rebecca Shoichet to sign my pony sword while G.M. Berrow signed my copy of Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity. I was also lucky enough to get a video of Claire and Rebecca saying the lines of their respective ponies while wielding the sword (http://burnfist23.tumblr.com/post/93741597652/i-get-worried-about-what-claire-is-going-to-do and http://burnfist23.tumblr.com/post/93741741517/i-got-on-rebeccas-bad-side-video-taken-with-ps). The staff members, however, wouldn't let me ask Andrea and Tabitha to do it though I did get Andrea to say "Oh my" in Fluttershy voice and Tabitha to say the "I will rip you to pieces" line from Dragon Quest (well, at least part of it cuz she forgot it. Still grateful to hear her say it). I was actually really nervous because this was the first time I get to talk to any voice actor, but they were all incredibly sweet and I enjoyed my short time with them.
G.M. Berrow Panel:
I think I was the biggest dork here because I absolutely loved her books. Sure, I'll admit the Crystal Heart Spell was pretty weak outside of Cadance's origin story, but for the most part, I loved the rest of the books, especially Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity. We even had a quiz at the end for prizes and I ended winning two of them because they were Curious Case of Charity questions. I would've gotten the others right as well, but they wised up and chose other people, though I am a little disappointed I couldn't get that MLP Connect Four game. Here are some of the things I remember from the Q&A (I hope it's eventually posted online):
* My question: What was the thought process in coming up with Charity Sweetmint, Rarity's apprentice from Curious Case of Charity? Basically, the idea was that since Rarity's name is...well, Rarity, the idea of another "her" seemed rather fitting. At the same time, she wanted Charity to be a little different than Rarity which is why she's somewhat more of a tomboy as well.
* Does she want to write for the show in season 5? The answer is that she actually IS writing for season 5, which EqD announced a couple of hours after the panel. What EqD didn't mention, though, was that she said the episode is a Pinkie Pie episode.
* Which pony does she identify with the most? While she does read a lot like Twilight (she is a writer after all) and love animals like Fluttershy (she brought her dog to the closing ceremony), she identifies the most with Pinkie since she was essentially the party planner back in high school. And then she goes on to writer a Pinkie Pie episode in season 5. Go figure.
* Does she get in contact with the show runners at DHX/Hasbro?/How did she come up with Cadance's backstory? She does indeed talk to the staff when writing the books. In fact, Cadance's backstory was something she and Meghan McCarthy discussed for awhile before settling on her being formerly a Pegasus raised in an Earth Pony village. She was also told about Maud Pie before her debut in the Season 4, thus why she's mentioned, though unnamed, in Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party. She said she got comments along the lines of "You can't just make up a new Pie sister" when that happened. Of course, it turned out she didn't.
* Has she read the IDW comics? Yes. She, in fact, owns and has read every issue up to the most recent release.
* Does she try to change the tone of writing in the books based on the character/setting? Yes, she does try to write somewhat differently based on the book. For example, Rarity's book is a little more fanciful and dramatic than say Applejack or Rainbow Dash. She also said that for the upcoming Daring Do books, she tried to make the tone similar to the way the book is read in Read It and Weep (most likely heavier emphasis on setting up the setting). Speaking of Daring Do...
* There were various questions about the upcoming Daring Do books, but all she could say is that we'll get new and returning villains and new locations (she mentioned a volcano). When asked about whether we'll get info on a bit Daring Do's backstory, all she could say is wait for the books.
* Thoughts on A.K. Yearling being Daring Do? At first, she was surprised and a little concerned because that information came out while she was writing the books. However, she has come to like the idea of the author going on adventures as described in her own book.
* Why do the princesses not step in to deal with Daring's enemies? Quite a few answers came up for this one. Perhaps Daring's enemies are in a part of Equestria where Celestia's jurisdiction is weaker and Daring Do is able to handle it for her (and may even work for Celestia). Maybe it's because, as mentioned Daring Don't, Daring Do works alone. Dustykatt, who was running the panel, said it's probably the same reason why the mane six aren't recognized as heroes despite saving Equestria on multiple occasions.
* Anything next after the last book in the current series, Fluttershy and the Fine Furry Friends book? Yes, there will be another series following the end of the current one and it will be focused on the princesses this time, starting with Princess Celestia.
* This last question was something I asked quickly after the panel ended, and is probably very important question for a lot of fans considering that its been the prime concern when she was announced as a writer for season 5 -- Why was Trixie portrayed the way she was in Crystal Heart Spell, especially after the end of Magic Duel and the some of her appearances in the comics? As mentioned, she does get in contact with the showrunners and has read all the comics, she's well aware of what they did with Trixie there. She said that originally, she had planned for the villain to be Chrysalis (though not sure how much of the story would have changed if she went with her), but they wanted her to use minor antagonists instead. I'm trying remember exactly what she said, but I think she said that when she discussed Trixie with the staff, they decided that Trixie can dip in and out of being an antagonist (probably as long as she doesn't go overboard like in Magic Duel) thus why she's more of an antagonist in the book. Now I still have problem with Trixie being an antagonist in the book (particularly her being bitter towards Twilight considering the end of Magic Duel) and the I really like the nicer yet still hammy Trixie in the comics, but I guess the idea of her still sliding into being a bit of jerk is not beyond her as long as it's not as bad as previous appearances.
Journey of the Spark panel:
Since this came right after G.M. Berrow's panel (and I had no idea the panel for the show's writers and storyboard artists was the same time) and I had nothing better to do, I sat around for the Journey of the Spark panel, having no idea what it was. Eventually, I did recognize it as the fan movie announced awhile back. Watching some of what the creators brought to the panel, however, I'm certainly looking forward to it's release. Here's basically what was shown at the panel (naturally, there will be spoilers for the fan animation for those concerned. I do know that some of this had been released at previous conventions):
* Some animation of what is I think the first 10-15 minutes of the movie. The concept was created around the end of season 2, so naturally, some things are a little outdated like Discord being all evil. Still, it was interesting seeing manipulative Discord again conversing with Chrysalis. This was followed by the mane six singing a really pretty song that sounds like it could have come straight from show itself.
* Next is an animatic of some time later when Twilight is essentially disowned by everypony and Discord talks to her about a place where she will never be hurt again. Again, it's interesting to hear Discord be manipulative again.
* After that is another animatic where the rest of the mane six confront Discord about what he did to Twilight. I remember it being one of the funnier ones but I wish I remember what was said. Basically what happens is that the rest of the mane six get Discord to agree to give them a chance to save Twilight if he really wants to prove that chaos will trump their friendship.
* Finally, they showed storyboards of an action sequence in which the mane six escape Appleloosa after a bar fight with the Changelings. When they wonder if they've lost them, Applejack goes to check and it turns out half the sky has been blotted out by a swarm of Changelings. A couple of them manage to abduct Pinkie Pie and she yells at them to put her down, but then she looks down at the very nice aerial view of the canyon the train is crossing. The Changelings oblige and toss her through the air and she falls in a sequence pretty much inspired by the scene where Cody falls through the air Rescuers Down Under. Luckily she is caught by Dash in time (and Pinkiedash fans go wild).
After that, I played a bit of Fighting is Magic (Its been awhile so naturally I lost) and Smash at the gaming room and then went to place I was staying at. All in all, a great first day.
Since there are a number of My Little Pony-related books being released over the rest of the year (and beyond), I thought it might be handy for folks to have the basic details and pre-order links in one place. I'll try to keep this updated as new information emerges. So, here goes:
My Little Pony: The Journal of the Two Sisters
(By Amy Keating Rogers)
Amazon | B&N (Release Date: June 10th, 2014)
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My Little Pony: Applejack and the Honest-to-Goodness Switcheroo
(By G.M. Berrow)
Amazon | B&N | iBooks (Release Date: July 15th, 2014)
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My Little Pony: The Daring Do Adventure Collection
(By A.K. Yearling)
Amazon | B&N (Release Date: October 7th, 2014)
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Pennyroyal Academy
(By M.A. Larson)
(Though this isn't a My Little Pony book, Larson has written a number of the most popular episodes of the series, and he’s a nice guy as well, so it’d be good to show him support by ordering his debut novel.)
Amazon | B&N | iBooks (Release Date: October 7th, 2014)
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My Little Pony: Fluttershy and the Fine Furry Friends Fair
(By G.M. Berrow)
Amazon | B&N | (Release Date: January 6th, 2015)
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(If you’re in the US, you can also use this handy link to find an independent bookseller that may stock these items. Please note that these links have only been tested in the UK and US; purchasing and shipping options outside those countries will likely be different. Your mileage may vary. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.)
